Door-hinge.



J. G. BOTHWELL.

DOOR HINGE.

I APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1013. 1,082,677.

Patented Dec. 80, 1913.

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UN TED AT S 3'e;i t known that 1; James o. ebeawetr; 'c'iti zen' 'of the. United States, residingat Fairfield,.in the county of -W'ayne and State:

of Illinois, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in. Door-Hinges, of which theiollowing is a 'full,' clear, and exact description, reference being-had to the accompanying drawings, forming a' part -My' invention. has relation to improvements' in door-liinges;-and it'consis ts in the novel details o'fconstrution more'fully set forth in thespecification'and pointed out in theclaimsh' v -In' the drawings,Figin-e' .1 represents a front elevation of a closed door. (broken in lithe middle) showingn' y invention applied iereto; Fig: 2 is a vertical cross-section on t door swung partially open; Figs-4 isa horizontal cross-section on the line of Fig. 1;-Fig. 5 is aplan of my improved wedgerai-l; Fig. 6 is an outside elevation thereof;

= and Fig.7, is an elevation of'the hinge usedin conjunction with the wedge.

The ob ect of my invention is to provide a door-hinge which Will permit a door to swing automatically to' a closed position -when once started toward said position, or

to permit the door to automatically complete its swing to full open position after the door with a curved wedge 01} rail'which the door traverses in its. opening andclosing movemerits.

The advantages at th invent-ion will be fully apparent from a detailed description thereof which is as follows; Referring to the drawings, D represents a conventional door and F the door-frame in which the same is mounted, the floorline being represented by A. In the present embodiment of my invention I employ a hinge having a leaf a secured to the frame F, and a leaf .a' secured to the door; The leaf a is provided'with a knuckle I) having race-waysc for suitable ball-bear ings (1 whereby the loop b rides' freely up and down over the hinge pin 6 secured behe line 2'-2 of Fig. 1; Fig; 3- is an enlarged elevation of ,the'lowerinner corner 'ofjtheiAlENT spcifiinionzorLatex-greens, p t fiyg jj m tween the terminal loops]: e.ryleafd.

Secured to the floor hinge-axis of the dooi rail 1,-the flange of the rail'li ed in position by means ofang e 2 screwed to-the floor, orany ot-he equ' alent mechanical manner. The" rhilforf hedge "curves in'the arc of :1 ch le,'tl1euppei' face or flange Qf-the rail be traversed by W roller -o r cast-er 3 secured to t'heQ bott onfo i'o i the door at. such a distance fronit-h e-liinge- 'axis' as will cause it to w epeibnp conforming to the on *ature 5f" t1i""rai1. The rail has a face'a-nd an elite ion; on. complementary-face m 'in'itingata 1 e 1*;70 theirbeing'a face'm, 77?,0ll each side. o'fjthe rail, the opposite faces 7; i-,';m, ineeting in a "bevel edge 12,,- the faces m. fm-,"be'ing .:the sliorteij; and their fre ef'ends being'js paeed apart shown (Fig. 6). 'The several-fares are disposed symmetricallylabont a coiilinon central plane indicated by'th'e lin e' Fi-g.

6. On each face -m/- is "a depression .Q1' Q0lll1- tersinkfl to receive the caster 3. The operation may he desc1'ili i.8.$'..tols0 lows :1-\.ssuming'the -dom to be closed Fig.

1) it will be seen that as the door isISWQhg open, theroller 3 (which for a ilOSed-Shd lowest position of--;the door rests siibsten tially on the bevel n, of t ie rail) willjride up the incline-m (Fig. 3) until it passes-the ridge '1- after which itwill automatically ride down' the inclinemf until, tlie'.-,iio,llei settles in the depressiona butter ST-being; seciired'to'the base-board toarrest'the door '90 as well understood in the art; The roller settling in the depression 4 prevents theopen door from. being dislodged by air currents and the like, although the-depression is not of sufiicient depth to offer any 'material amount 'ofresistanee to'a person clos ing the door. If itbe desired to close the door,qthe ilatter isswung so as to causethe roller 3' to ride'up the incline m to and 'past' v the ridge 'r-after which the door will'au tom'atically close, the roller riding down the jincline m partly .'.under" gravity and partlyunder the momentum of the door. In

its swinging movements from closed to open, and from open to closed positions, the door. mores upand down along its hinge-axis; the vertical play being allowed therefor by the 'speciaLconstruction of-hinge (Fig. .7) the" 1t follows..that it is reversible, it may be" applied to a door 'b ifj durnaled on the pin .e operating with very little friction by reason of the roller-bearings (Z, "The rail Lhavingits opposite faces inclined-to a common plane (m) that is to'say hinged on the left?'or rightside. In the drawing the door D is hinged on the ten; but were it hinged on; the right sidepit would necessitate -reversing-the rail 1,- that is to. say laying it on the face m which shown .on top inthe drawings. To secnre a better support for the rear terminalof theiail. after it is on'ce'deposited on the floor a .wedge or block-6 is m/(Fig. 1 The'faces' m,

VplacedbetWeen-the floor andthe bottom face .mQQir icliningas they do in opposite directionsf'rom a common ridge 1*,

it follows that for a: sweep ofthe door from a closed to a. full open position the door will first-ride up the incline" m, then down the incline mg. and vice versa with a closing movement; 'After'the roller passes the ridge 9;- the door will automatically open or-close (as the case may be) without a .jar' under the action of gravity assisted byt-he slight mo-,

4 mentui'n which it may have acquired with its initial movement. On account of the i rising and falling movement of thef'door, the

top of the frame is providpd with a crossstrip-7 which covers up the gap which would otherwise result'when the door was n its closed and lowest osition.

It'may be statec in conclusion that while I have stated that the momentum and gravity act jointly to carry the door past the ridge 1* when swung in either' direction, that gravity alone will suffice to carry the door "where there is no appreciable momentum.

It may be further stated that the door in descending the incline we automatically latches itself, the door being provided ,with the usual latch and'the frame F with a' keeper therefor well understood in the art and not shown in the drawings.

faces at tions of the first faces but inclining in the in presence of two witnesses;

Having described my invention, whatclaim 1s:

'1. In combination with a'doorhinged to swing about a fixed vertical axis andhaving a- IlSlIlg and falling movement along said aigis; a roller at the bottom-of the door contiguous to said axis, anda reversible curved rail or, track having opposlte faces mcl1ned to a common'central plane and terminating" in an edge at one end," and. complementary the oppos te ends forming continuaopposite direction forthe purposeset forth.

2. In combination with a swinging dooroscillating-abouta fired vertical axis. and having an up and down. movement along said axis, a reversible culffifed rail. en'gz'rging the bottom of said door atafi'poi'ntremoved a suit-able radial distance fr'om said axis;-

said rail comprising a member having opposite inclined faces tapering .to. an edge atone end complementary faces leading from the opposite ends thereof and inc-lining therefrom in the opposite direction, and 'a wedge or block interposed below the bottom complementary face "and 'the floor, andmeans for securing said rail to the floor.

3. In combination with a door hinged to swing about a. fixed vertical axis and having a rising and falling movement along said axis; a reversible curved rail or t-rackengaged by the bottom of the door at a pointcontiguous to said-axis, said rail having'op pos1te faces'inclzned to a common central plane and tern'nna-ting in an edge at one.

end, and complementary faces at the oppo- 

